Interview: Billy Carter Haunts in SHINING CITY

SHINING CITY is not your typical ghost story. Set in Dublin, it stars Matthew Broderick as John, a troubled widower haunted by visions of his deceased wife. John seeks the counsel of Ian, a newly minted therapist, played by Billy Carter. Trouble is, Ian, who recently left the priesthood for undisclosed reasons, is as troubled as John in the Irish Repertory Theatre's revival of Conor McPherson's drama.

"I found it very hard to pass on this very good script," Carter said, recalling when the play's director, Ciarán O'Reilly, contacted him a few months ago. "When I heard that Matthew was going to be John, I knew I had to do it."

The two spend much of the play as a patient and therapist would: talking and listening. "It's important to have a good scene partner in this play and we developed a shorthand that helped in those scenes," Carter said. "The director knows our temperament and we don't get bogged down with director's notes. It's been more of a 'Let's get on with it' kind of trustworthy relationship.

"We know each other's timing and that's quite nice," said Carter. "It's a real collaboration and with Matthew, he's been one of the best actors I've worked with in 15 years. He's supportive, and a passionate team player. It's been a real privilege and a dream working together."

John shares his anxiety about seeing his wife in the house they shared and he harbors guilt over her death. Ian mirrors John's guilt and anxiety and stumbles often when reacting to John's multi-layered stories. They both hesitate when speaking, filling in sentences with pause-filling phrases as people in conversation often do.

"Someone told me that there are about 250 'you knows' in our scenes," Carter said with a laugh. The play is very dark, with patches of humor, Carter said. Ian's life, with his fiancée, Neasa, played by Lisa Dwan, and their small daughter, is two degrees from a breaking point. They live in Ian's brother's house and Neasa feels trapped and unwanted.

"His relationships are broken," Carter said. "With the church and faith and his girlfriend and child. Then he picks up Laurence"-James Russell-"searching for answers he can't find.

"John thinks that as a therapist he has the answers," Carter said, "but take the veil away and you see Ian's internal conflict. I think in the sessions he's thinking on his feet, not really sure of himself. He's flawed and there's an awful loneliness in him. He's haunted by things himself, and when he hears John talk about guilt, it's a mirror image of himself.

"Ian's a great listener but I don't know how honest he is with himself. McPherson does the solitary Irishman quite well," Carter said.

Although the audience doesn't know Ian's backstory, Carter has filled it with supposition. "We know he was a priest, but we don't know when Neasa came into play," he said. "I think he left the priesthood very quickly. I felt a knee-jerking reaction and he's trying to re-invent himself, living in his brother's house. That's a terrible pressure on him," he added.

"He's practically living in the office and this is very much a transitional period. John moves out of his house and into a B&B. Laurence has no money and is essentially homeless. We're all unanchored and floating," Carter said.

THE WEIR-another McPherson play- "also focused on loneliness," said Carter, who was in a production. But with a big difference, he said. "In The Weir, there was a country loneliness; this is a city loneliness. I think people are happier in the country being lonely than people in the city being lonely," he said with a laugh. "This play captures that-it's in Dublin, where typical everyday city things happen."

Ian is not adept at expressing himself, Carter said. "Even the scene with Neasa has a lot of stopping and starting," he said. "McPherson gets this brilliantly well," he said.

SHINING CITY may be talky, but the stories that John weaves are mesmerizing and often humorous. "There was a note from Conor and Ciarán that we must relish in the humor to survive anything in life."

John's tribulations spook Ian, who falters when trying to give impartial impressions. "This is all very new for Ian, this thinking on his feet. He doesn't interrupt John for 30 minutes in the play, there's just a lot of listening and reacting without words," Carter said.

The only person who seems to help Ian is Laurence, the park pick-up. "He learns in the long term to listen to himself in this lovely scene with Laurence. He's the only one who gives him great advice to just be yourself. Who cares?" Carter said. Laurence encourages Ian to be honest with himself. "I think he finds a way to be honest with himself and get some clarity," Carter said of the ghost tale. "Whatever internal conflict you have, people can haunt themselves," he said. "There's nothing wrong with a little fear in your life."

Shining City is playing at the Irish Repertory Theatre, 132 West 22nd Street through July 3.